ECCLESIA GNOSTICA CATHOLICA Stranded Bishops
Ordo Templi Orientis

by
Peter-R. Koenig

While the O.T.O.’s initiatory system is a sort of Kafkaesque bureaucratic club game, it has a religious association under its obedience: The Gnostic Catholic Church. One of the O.T.O.groups intends "to restore Christianity to its real status as a solar-phallic religion." In addition to tax advantages, religion supplies a commodity that is always in demand: salvation. And it would seem that some O.T.O.-variations are simply making themselves bulletproof in the context of the law in some countries.
The technical term for the bishopric in the context of the O.T.O. Phenomenon is Wandering Bishop or Episcopi Vagantes. This status is not defined by any character qualities, not by theological education or theological position. These bishops are not elected by a canonical church, nor proposed as an ordain by a suffragan and not bound to a historical episcopal see or consecrated by an 'official' bishop according to the canonical procedure.

A 'real' bishop is not a successor of a sole apostle as only the synod/college of bishops in toto are heir to the college of the apostles.
Therefore: no Wandering Bishop has a 'real' apostolic succession. There is no Holy Ghost in Wandering-Bishop-consecrations.
The instrumentum consecrationis is of no apostolic value. Nonetheless, Wandering Bishops are collectors of papers and diplomas.

In all Ordo Templi Orientis versions, the line of succession is vitally important, as it is believed that the leader is the repository of the Order’s magical power, and also has a claim on various copyrights and royalties, especially of Aleister Crowley’s work.

Significant E.G.C. Sequences

"Gnostic Church"

1890 Eglise Gnostique founded by Jules Doinel without apostolic succession.
1892 Doinel consecrated 'Papus'.
1894 Doinel passed his office on to Fabre des Essarts.
1899 Fugairon published a "Gnostic Catechism".
1902 Bricaud became a member.
1904 Peithmann published the "Gnostic Catechism".
1906 the name 'Église Gnostique' was enlarged to "Gnostic Catholic
Church" (EGC, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica).
1907 Bricaud became head of the Church, and wrote a "Gnostic Catechism".
1908 schism.
1911 the Church became allied with Martinism.
1912 Reuss became Gnostic Legate.
1913 Bricaud received an apostolic succession.
1917 Reuss translated Crowley's Gnostic Mass into German.
1919 Reuss became Gnostic Legate for Switzerland, while Bricaud became
a representative of Reuss' O.T.O.
1920 Bricaud wanted to introduce Crowley's "Mass" as the religion for
Freemasons.
1921 Bricaud's letter-headings reminded to Reuss's 'Neo-Christian
O.T.O.'.
1924 Kurtzahn named himself Ecclesiarch.
1925 Kurtzahn wrote on the 'Gnostics and the Invisible Church'.
1930 Krumm-Heller met Leadbeater.
1934 Chevillon became overall chief of the Church.
1936 Chevillon received an apostolic succession.
1938 Chevillon consecrated Clymer.
1939 Chevillon consecrated Krumm-Heller.
1944 Crowley named Crow as head of the Church.
1972 Crow consecrated Poling.

"Martinism"

"O.T.O."

1912 Crowley became O.T.O. leader for England and Ireland, and
published his "Statutes".
1914 Crowley's "Statutes" published by Reuss.
1915 Crowley described Reuss as "Most Reverend Father".
1917 Reuss called himself leader of the Gnostic Neo-Christian O.T.O.
and published new "Statutes" with world-wide applicability.
1918 Supposed split of the French O.T.O. (Jean-Maine).
1919 Bricaud became O.T.O. Delegate.
1919 Crowley, in financial straits, again published his old "Statutes"
that were subordinate to Reuss.
1920 Freemasonry broke with the O.T.O.
1920 Kurtzahn participated at Reuss' O.T.O. Chapter-meetings.
1921 Crowley declared himself OHO.
1922 Crowley allegedly met Reuss in Italy.
1933 Peithmann emigrated to the USA.
1948 Crow named himself OHO of the O.T.O.

"Memphis-Misraim"

1908 Reuss gave MM titles to 'Papus', Bricaud and Détré.
1912 Crowley received MM titles.
1916 Détré became chief of the MM and Martinism.
1918 Bricaud became chief of the MM and Martinism.

CREEDS OF THE GNOSTIC CHURCHES ASSOCIATED WITH THE O.T.O.

Creed of the Eglise Gnostique Universelle at Lyon, 1908

The sermon of H. H. + Johannes Bricaud (Jean II) on the occasion of his
appointment as Patriarch of the Universal Gnostic Church in Lyon, 1908.

— We believe in the Divine Archetype [Proarche] and the eternal
Progenitor

[Propator], in the unending and almighty Being, come forth
from the Heavenly Powers into perfect Presence, God in One and Three.

— In the First Aspect of the Trinity

[tridyname], the
Father, who brought forth all things visible and invisible.

— In the Second Aspect of the Trinity, the Son, the Divine Logos,
in which Christ is revealed, the spiritual and physical Light, true God
as his Father and of one substance with Him.

— That the same had appeared on earth in the Person of Jesus,
the supernatural Spirit, who came down to us, so that He might join with a
soul and a body, to be like us; in the womb of Miriam.

— That the same since the moment He appeared in Jesus, was
consecrated and had suffered.

— That spoke to us through His mouth and taught us the Gnosis
and the true holy life, so that we shall be free from slavery of the
Demiurges and their earthly Archons, and as he made our return to the
pneumatic World from which we came possible, where He returned after
his death.

— We believe in the Third Aspect of the Trinity, Life, which
follows from the Father as from the Son, and reveals itself in the
Pneuma-Agion, the Holy Ghost.

— Who gives us joy in life, and leads us on the Path of Truth and
Holiness, who unites all beings, who is worshipped in the Father as in
the Son.

— We blieve in a Pneumatic Universe, immeasureable Church od the
Spirit, as old as God Himself, and older than the Material

[hylic] Universe, where our globe finds itself as but a colony in the
Perisphere, whereon we men descend as spirits.

— We profess the two Baptisms, and the three other Mysteries of
the purification and conversion of mankind.

— We await the institution of the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth, and
the original state of mankind.

— And finally the Resurrection of the Dead with Jesus, the Head of
the earthly Church; the ascension and establishment of this association
in Heaven; the dissolution of the Fallen Spirits, and likewise the
dissolution of the Material

Creed of the Église Gnostique de France, Paris 1913

I believe that everything comes from an indescribable, limitless,
and formless Universal Principal. It is One in its Essence, threefold
in its appearance: Father, Son, Spirit.

I believe that this Principle is the ultimate Progenitor, that
Thought is indivisibly united with Him, and that the Hierarchy of Holy
Æons are His attributes which He has brought forth, through which He
manifests himself, and proceeding fom him, are one with Him.

I believe that the Demiurge is the Principle of division and
egotism, that it begat all restriction, and is the begetter of all
forms and existences; the ultimate Principle, which is in the Demiurge,
and which with it is bound to the Universal Spirit, comes directly from
the Progenitor.

[is missing.]

I believe that the Æon Christ (one with the Holy Spirit) appears
to us through the 'Saviour', and that the Saviour in our earthly age is
Jesus, from whom the Eternal Gospels were inspired.

I believe in the mission of this 'Saviour', that it prepares us
for the coming of the Helper

[Paraclete], which is the Holy
Ghost, and that it appears to us through the Virgin of Light.

I believe that all beings are finally united in the Womb of the
Pleroma, where harmony, justice, and grace shall reign in all
Aeons.

Theodor Reuss: Our Fundamental Tenets, 1913

"God and the world (visible and invisible) are an all all-embracing,
immeasureable kingdom (the universe), consisting of the known
proto-energy (or power of creation), the universe's positive
properties, and the unknown proto-substance (or world-egg), the
universe's negative properties; which through contact with itself
(spontaneous generation, coition) may generate new worlds and creations
that are in principle identical, and continue creating such things. And
because of our observation that the universe is a twofold thing,
positive and negative (also dual), and that 'life' is only maintained
by their union, we describe our observation as dualistic world-view.
The identity of the creations with the creator lies in the fact that
the original power of creation (or power of generation) also dwells in
the creations. The ability of the creations to engender further
creations of the same sort and breed, through the act of generation (by
creation or reproduction) is inherent proof of their (divine) descent
from the original creator (or generator). It is in this sense that the
words of the Bible are to be understood: 'So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him.'"

"Oriflamme" of July 1913.

Creed of Reuss and Crowley's Gnostic Catholic Church

"I believe in one secret and and ineffable LORD: and in one Star in
the
company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall
return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in his name
CHAOS, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon the Earth; and in one Air
the nourisher of all that breathes.
And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb
wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of
Mystery, in Her name BABALON.
And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His
name BAPHOMET.
And I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love
and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA..."

Creed of Arnoldo Krumm-Heller's Gnostic Mass

"I believe in Mary, Maya, Isis, or those of lesser renown, in the
physical force symbolised in Nature, whose conception and illumination
reveals the fertility of Nature.
I believe in the mystery of Baphomet and the Demiurge.
I believe in one acknowledged superior Church, supported by pure
souls; in the White Hierarchy, represented by the White Brotherhood,
and which has its exponents in the Holy Gnostic Church, ruled by
Patriarchs, Apostles, Bishops, and Priests.
Our Law is Love, Life, Liberty, and Victory.
We have taken the motto Thelema."

Fraternitas Saturni: Juste Cruci Suffixus Est

"The Light struggles with the Darkness. The Solar Logos fights with
the pale demiurge, with Saturn, the lost Son, for the rulership of his
realm. Two planets circle our mother-star first in narrow orbits -
Mercury and Venus. In esoteric terms they free us from the rulership of
Saturn. On the next planet, on our Earth, the battle has been raging
for millions of years; it stands at a highly significant intersection
within the planetary chain, for the spirit of the Earth is still
unredeemed. The outer planets are still servants of Saturn, the Dark
Angel. The outcome of this battle is decided in us, in men's
hearts."
(Karl Spiessberger, "Blätter für angewandte okkulte Lebenskunst", Nº 45,
1953).

"But the desire to serve the highest principle of Saturn brings the
most profound knowledge. 'Lucifer' as the Morning Star is not only the
great fallen Angel Lucifer, but also the brother of Christ. Saturn in
his higher octaves is the embodiment of the deepest lessons of maturity
through suffering. And within his darkest portal stands the resolution.
Saturnus, the guardian of the threshold, then illuminates with a pale
light — distorted — the kindness of Jupiter, when his symbol has turned
into a mirror-image."
(Grosche, "Blätter" Nº 48, 1954).

O.T.O. and E.G.C.: For A Pretence, Make Long Prayers [1]

It is highly probable that Hermann Joseph
Metzger was responsible for linking the
O.T.O. phenomenon to the concept of 'apostolic succession', [2] or as he
called it, the "Antiochite-Jacobinic Succession, Syro-Malabarite
Line of Mar Athanasius since 1877." [3] Today, some new O.T.O.-groups
(e.g. the "Caliphate") try to copy this scheme.
To understand this claim, the following three (highly simplified) lines of succession should be borne
in mind:

the Vilatte line

Jules Doinel's Gnostic Church

the schism under Joanny Bricaud's leadership.

(a) Paulose Kadavil Kooran "Mar Athanasius", 1833-1907, legate of
Ignatius Peter III of Antiocha, was Syrio-Jacobinic bishop of Kottayam
in Malabar. On July 29th 1889 he consecrated Joseph René Vilatte, who
took the name Mar Thimoteus I. He was born in 1854 and was ordained on
June 7th 1885 as a priest of the Swiss 'Christkatholische Kirche', a
branch of the 'Altkatholische Utrechter Union'. Vilatte then proceeded
to consecrate a vast number of bishops, but these consecrations and the
Orders he founded were not recognized by the Jacobite Church, the
Syrian-Antiochan Church or the Roman Catholic Church.
Omitting dates and full details, the following line of succession
leads to the Reuss-O.T.O.: Alvarez, Vilatte, Gulotte, Hussay, Giraud
and Joanny Bricuad (after July 21st 1913). Villatte died in 1929. It
should be noted that Vilatte was never a member of any 'Gnostic' Church.

(b) On September 21st 1890 (?) a new church appeared overnight in
France: Jules-Stanislas Doinel (8.12.1842-16.3.1902) founded L'Église
Gnostique based on his encounters with 'Mother Mary"' — as a medium;
he called himself Patriarch 'Valentin II'. Doinel had close friends
within Theosophy, for example Lady Caithness. [4] In 1892 Gérard
Encausse "Papus", who was also a Theosophist, entered Doinel's church.
In 1894 Doinel surrendered his office to the Martinist Leonce-Etienne
(Eugene) Joseph Fabre des Essarts "Synesius" (1848-1917). In 1901 Bricaud became
involved; on June 24th that year Theodor Reuss
became Martinist 'Inspecteur Spécial' for Berlin; Papus had refounded Martinism in
1891, and was now its chief. In 1906 the Church's name was changed to 'Église
Gnostique de France'. The Church adopted a form of Mass that was
described as being similar to the "old Catholic tradition".
In 1907 Patriarch des Essarts died and Joanny
Bricaud (now 'Jean II') took his place. But in 1908 a Gnostic schism occurred: the branch at
Lyon under Bricaud took yet another new name; 'Église Gnostique
Catholique' (EGC). Then it changed again becoming the Église Gnostique
Universelle (EGU). Meanwhile the original Paris Église Gnostique of
Paris had been taken over by Leon Champrenaud "Théophane" though it
later disintegrated under Paul Genty "Basilides" in 1926. It is still
not certain if Genty was the 'Basilides' who was said to have
consecrated Arnoldo Krumm-Heller, or if
Krumm-Heller meant E.C.H. Peithmann, who had the same Gnostic motto.

(c) Papus remained faithful to his Patriarch Bricaud. In 1911 Église
Gnostique Universelle became the official church of Papus' Martinist
movement. In 1912 Bricaud made Reuss a "Légat Gnostique" although
Bricaud did not receive a valid apostolic (Vilatte) succession until
1913.

After Papus died in 1916, Charles Détré took over both Memphis
Misraim and Martinism; both were then taken over by Bricaud when Détré's death
in 1918. With a remarkable repetition of the Gnostic Church's 1908
split, the French O.T.O. fell asunder in 1918.

O.T.O. Gnostics and Templars

"The 'sacramental' understanding of apostolic succession of
consecration is understood as the laying on of hands (in the milieu of
a religious service or otherwise) conferring a particular rôle; the
document that records this act (the 'instrumentum consecrationis') only
had a subordinate rôle. This is in distinction to (pseudo-) Masonry,
where the document (the 'Charter' or 'Warrant') has decisive (or even
much greater) value, and the act of consecration itself varies, and is
to that extent subordinate." [5]

On March 15th 1908 [6] Reuss sent 'Papus' a Memphis-Misraim
charter, but it mentioned neither the O.T.O. nor the EGC. On June 24th
1908, Reuss bestowed charters on Papus, Détré and Bricaud, which still
only mentioned MM titles. [7]

On April 21st 1912 Aleister Crowley received a charter from Reuss that
nonetheless made no mention of the EGC. [This is important because some alleged Crowley-
successors still pretend that Crowley was head of a traditional
Gnostic Church related to the O.T.O. while he was only Head
of his own created church]. As Bricaud got his first
'traditional apostolic' succession from Giraud in 1913, any possible
consecrations in the period before that would only have been of a
spiritual nature. Papus died in 1916.

At some stage in 1917 Reuss translated Crowley's "Gnostic Mass" into
German for "the Gnostic Neo-Christian O.T.O.". In his
introduction, Reuss spoke of "the lofty teachings of the holiness of the Divine
Organ," and "the godliness of the earthly act of generation, as
a parallel of the original divine act of generation." He claimed
that "Therefore an act of love consummated under the control of the will
in God, is a sacramental deed, a 'mystical wedding with God', a
communication, a self-union with God. The holy Mass is a ceremonial,
symbolic manifestation of a mystical union of man with God." [8]

Reuss described himself in the postscript to this translation as
"present Head of the Gnostic Neo-Christians [...] Sovereign
Patriarch and Primate of the Gnostic Church", and at the same time as only
"Gnostic Legate of the Universal Gnostic Church of France for
Switzerland" [9] under Patriarch Joanny Bricaud's leadership.
Yet in the same breath he spoke of the latter as identical with the former;
quite why remains uncertain. Had Reuss planned to found an independent
EGC?

In H.J. Metzger's edition of this "Gnostic Mass" Reuss's references to
Bricaud, Baptiste, Clement and himself are missing.

Reuss made Bricaud (33°, 96°) "délegué générale" of the O.T.O. for
France on September 9th 1919; Reuss also granted Bricaud the power to found a
Sovereign Sanctuary of the MM 95° in France for the first time, since
the charter he had given to Encausse and Détré in 1908 had not been
adequate for this. [10] In return, Reuss was made "légat gnostique
pour la Suisse" by Bricaud on September 18th 1919.

Bricaud and Reuss then revealed their idea of introducing Crowley's
Gnostic Mass as a Gnostic religion for the 18° of the Scottish Rite, at
the Zurich Masonic Congress in 1920. This led to the final rupture between the O.T.O. and Freemasonry.

One O.T.O. Mass no Church doth make

"Even if this ritual [Crowley's "Gnostic Mass" or "Liber XV"]
were a lot more satisfactory from both a catholic and a Gnostic point of view,
one would be forced to say: 'one Mass no church doth make' ... While
there may be honorary degrees of Masonic orders conferred at a distance
or 'on sight', this cannot be done in an ecclesiastical
succession."
[12]

Neither Reuss nor Crowley had been ordained in person; ever since it
has proved impossible to verify their assertions that they had somehow
received 'valid' ordinations. However W.B. Crow was appointed a
Patriarch by Crowley in 1944 by post (see below).

Although many O.T.O. groups have claimed that Reuss and Crowley had
been 'Bishops' and 'Patriarchs' of the Gnostic Catholic Church, and
considered the office of 'Patriarch' a prerequisite for the OHO, this
still leaves a pressing question about the authenticity of such an
assertion. Robert Amadou, in his capacity as an expert on French secret
societies, had this to say:

"1. In the matter of the OTO, I am not competent to judge, as the
subject is strange to me. 2. So I do not know if Reuss and/or Crowley
ever received an episcopal consecration in the apostolic succession. 3. So
far as the story of the Gnostic Church in France is concerned, I can
nonetheless confirm that to the best of my knowledge, there is no proof
or even any record (a) that Papus ever received any consecration, apart
from Jules Doinel's in 1892; or (b) that Jean Bricaud ever consecrated
Crowley as a bishop ." [13]

The Crowley expert Gerald Yorke said: "Members of the OTO under
either Reuss or Crowley were not "ex officio" members of the Gnostic Church in
which neither they nor [Karl]
Germer were bishops."
[14]

So by 1912 Reuss had not gained a spiritual succession as a bishop from
either 'Papus' or Doinel, whatever he may have claimed. Whether Reuss's
MM and O.T.O. charter for Crowley of 1912 was in effect a bishopric as
well — or not — it was Bricaud who first got an apostolic succession
from Giraud on July 21st 1913. [15] The question arises as to whether Reuss' MM/O.T.O.-charter to Crowley
in 1912 (where the term "O.T.O." was put in AFTERWARDS!) could be
interpreted as evidencing the conferring of gnostic apostolic
succession or not. Since Bricaud only received valid consecration
via Giraud for EGU after July 1913, his appointing Reuss a
gnostic legate in 1912 was not apostolic.
Did Bricaud consecrate Reuss after 1913? If so, did Reuss
consecrate Crowley between 1913 and 1914 while they were in
London? Did they ever meet afterwards (for example after 1918)?
If Reuss did ordain Crowley as an apostolic bishop, it
can only have been after July 21st 1913 that the succession might be
passed on. After Crowley went to America in 1914,
Reuss published a translation of Crowley's essay "Honesty is the best
Policy" in May 1915; in the foreword, Crowley is only mentioned as
Grand Master of the O.T.O. for England. [16]

In the same year Crowley dedicated his "The Giant's Thumb" (New York,
1915) to "the most holy King of the whole Earth, most Reverend
Father in the Lord of the Gnostic Catholic Church, Frater Superior O.H.O. of
the religious and military order of the temple oriental and
occidental" — that is, to Reuss. No evidence has since come to light that Reuss and
Crowley ever saw each other face to face after this.

At the beginning of 1919 Reuss was re-appointed as Bricaud's 'Gnostic
Legate'; once again, the repeated claims that this involved being
ordained as a bishop beg the question of whether Reuss then consecrated
Crowley in turn — for after 1917, whatever the assertions to the
contrary, Reuss employed no further Thelemic O.T.O. rituals, if ever at
all. Crowley's diaries between 1914 and 1920 make no mention of ordination as a
bishop, or any meetings with Reuss. And when Crowley did describe
himself as OHO in his diary on November 27th 1921, he did not mention
an ordination, nor is any such claim to found anywhere else in his
diaries. Reuss' O.T.O.-statutes of 1917 (of
which Crowley's 1919-version, Liber LII, only abbreviates versions already published in
1912 and 1914) do not equate O.T.O. with the Gnostic Church.
Crowley's version only says that the "wisdom and the knowledge"
of several organisations — including the Gnostic Church — should be
incorporated in the O.T.O., but NOT the organisations themselves.

Crowley wanted to annex Reuss' office of the OHO and started to
quarrel with him. A few days after Reuss forbad him to mix Thelema
with the O.T.O., Crowley noted in his diary on 27 November 1921: "I
have proclaimed myself O.H.O. Frater Superior of the Order of
Oriental Templars." [One month later, Reuss publicly announced
himself and Arnoldo Krumm-Heller the heirs to Carl Kellner,
that is OHO of the O.T.O.]. Reuss also tied in with Spencer Lewis'
A.M.O.R.C. and told him that Crowley was expelled from the
O.T.O..

In November 1921, Reuss definitely got rid of Crowley and
separated Thelema from the O.T.O. Every thelemic O.T.O. from now on
only is a breakaway group from the original O.T.O. Most Thelemites
are fervently anti-Christian, so why should they care even if they
claim succession from Papus, Bricaud & Co. who certainly were
gnostic Christians rather than Thelemites? Valentianism and
Catharism which were the foremost inspiratory sources for Doinel &
Co. do not involve any "spermatikhos" speculations or practises.

Karl Germer,
Crowley's heir (in this O.T.O. version), reported that
Reuss allegedly met Crowley in 1922 in Palermo, Italy (near Cefalu),
but this has not been substantiated by documents or diaries.

Crowley visited Bricaud at Lyons in 1924, and described him "as a
kind of Jesus Christ" (according to Henri Birven's
account in Metzger's "Oriflamme", Nº 120 of April 1972). But apparently no ordination seems
to have taken place, despite the fact that Bricaud had wanted to
introduce Crowley's "Liber XV" as the Masonic religion in 1920), no
doubt in view of Crowley's expressed antipathy to Christianity (e.g. in
"The Gospel According to George Bernard Shaw").

E.C.H. Peithmann and O.T.O.

Pastor Dr. E.C.H. Peithmann "Basilides" (3.5.1865-4.7.1943, died at
Südhemmern) was a member of the Grail Order (founded in 1893) into
which he introduced sex-magical practises. [17] After his departure
from the Grail Order, he became the founder of an "Old Gnostic Church
of Eleusis" dedicated to the "transformation of sexual energy"
and the "liberation of the seed from servitude."

In 1904 Peithmann produced a "Gnostische Katechismus" which bore a
close resemblance to the 1899 "Catéchisme Expliqué de L'Église
Gnostique" of Louis-Sophrone Fugairon "Sophronius", and the 1907
"Catéchisme Gnostique" of Bricaud. 'Sophronius', who had already been
consecrated by des Essarts in 1903, was later Bricaud's Bishop of
Prague.

In 1923 Gustav Meyrink began to take an interest in Peithmann. [18]
From his documents Ruben Pilares Villa discovered
that Peithmann had passed the succession on to Krumm-Heller. [19]

"I was ordained Bishop of the Gnostic Church [in 1930] according
to the ordained pattern, and some weeks after a congress held in London by the
high dignities of the Ancient Gnostic Church, I decided to revive this
church from dormancy. I visited Patriach Basilides, and he confirmed my
powers to create congregations and parishes" in Spain and America."
[20]

Peithmann made a point of distancing himself completely from Crowley in
1929, but according to his article 'Gnosis', published posthumously in
Metzger's "Oriflamme" Nº 141 for January 1974, he was well acquainted
with consecration ceremonies and grades bearing a close resemblance to
those of the O.T.O. and the Golden Dawn.

"The most important event in the Gnosis must be viewed as sex-magic
[...] proliferation of the glands in puberty or the
intercellular tissues occurs because of nourishment of the germ-cells. Since this
results in stimulation of the ductless glands, the rejuvenation of the
body is a visible consequence [...] In future this will be
imparted at the 'Gnostic Rejuvenation Home' at Südhemmern under the direction of
Dr. E.C.H. Peithmann." [21]
"I swear before the omniscient and omnipresent God, that I will
keep secret all the books, lectures, writings and communications
received from the gnostic School in Südhemmern; and that I will abstain
from fleshly lusts, and seek and lead a pure sex-life; that my sole aim
shall be my own improvement, my fellows' welfare, and God's
honour." [22]

In March 1933 Peithmann was expelled from Germany by the authorities,
and fetched up in the USA. From there he never once contacted his
followers by letter.

"Towards the end of last year [1986] the last living member (85
years old) died. Sadly, Peithmann never got back in touch with the members of
his School even after the war. [?]" [23]

This last remaining pupil was visited by Dieter Heikaus and Ewald
Dorpheide of the Ordo Saturni, in 1986.

Ernst Tristan Kurtzahn, (b. 29.11.1879 in Königsberg) was an
enthusiastic Ariosophist [25] and author of such books as "Die
Rosenkreuzer", and "Der Tarot" (both published in 1920).

After 1920 Kurtzahn used the motto "Daiytanus" [26] and participated
at Reussian O.T.O. chapters. In the national publication "Der Weltloge"
(Nº 1 of 1924) Kurtzahn was announced as 'Ecclesiarch' of the Gnostica
Ecclesia Catholica, according to Horst E. Miers. [27]

Nonetheless Miers believes that Kurtzahn did not simply become a
member of the Fraternitas Saturni (which seems perfectly possible in
view of the forty Pansophical members of the original FS), but also
co-authored Grosche's "Magical Letters", as well as "Saturn-Gnosis",
and even assisted with the draft versions of the FS's rituals. [28]

In 1925 Kutzahn's "Die Gnostiker und die unsichtbare Kirche" ("The
Gnostics and the Invisible Church") [29] appeared; in its table of
contents were such chapters as "The mysteries of sex-magic", "Mysteries
of death", and "The opposite Gnostic poles: Woman and the Devil".

Kurtzahn introduced the use of a cross "+" in Order mottos, which was
somehow meant to signify that the person concerned had "disclosed
the presence of the hermaphrodite soul in themselves." [30] Thus
Metzger changed his motto into "+ H. Josephus M.", to resemble
Kurtzahn's version "+ E. Tristan K." In the book Kurtzahn made many
mentions of sex-magic, and described the Gnostica Ecclesia Catholica as
"Eclesia [sic] Mystica et occulta." [31] There was no trace of Reuss or
the O.T.O. in the text itself, but in the publisher's announcements at
the front of the book, the "Gnostic Mass" and the O.T.O. "Construction
Prgramme" were advertised under the rubric "Books about Gnosis."

Herbert Fritsche and H.J. Metzger's Ordo Templi Orientis

After Bricaud's death in 1939, Constant Chevillon became the heir to
the Gnostic Catholic Church — in other words to the Église Gnostique
Universelle. Ordained on January 5th 1936, Chevillon came from the
Villatte line of succession. What he and Reuss's likely heir
Hans Rudolf Hilfiker had thought of the O.T.O. may be read in the chapter about them. In 1938 Chevillon consecrated R.S. Clymer, and Krumm-Heller in 1939.

"Dr. Krumm-Heller was Bishop of the Gnostic Church, using the English
Ritual, and by the death of Peithmann was designated as the Patriarch
of the Gnostic Church for Germany-Austria." [33]

After Chevillon was murdered by the Gestapo on March (?) 23rd 1944,
his Order's archive was sent by a Monsieur de St. Vincent to Swinburne
Clymer in the United States. [34] Shortly before his death,
Krumm-Heller is alleged to have ordained Herbert
Fritsche, who then in turn ordained Metzger (who only had documented proof of his
later ordinations) which in this case went hand in hand (that is
hand on shoulders) with the supposed leadership of the F.R.A. Markus
Kumer, a former Metzger loyalist, had undoubtedly seen Fritsche's handwritten
ordination certificate for Metzger, but none from Krumm-Heller for
Fritsche. [35]

While Reuss's Gnosticism tended towards Manichæanism, Krumm-Heller
leant more towards the Barbelo-gnostics. At Metzger's 'Priest's
Seminary' in Stein, the Gnostic scripture "Pistis Sophia" was
considered worthy of study. [36] This institution's "Curriculum"
included every possible religion, besides directing particular students
into a course in "Thelemic theology." The questionnaires included in
this curriculum not only asked about one's favourite colours, but also
about one's "life-goal."

At various times the media published photographs of Hermann Joseph Metzger's altar of the Swiss Gnostic Catholic Church. [37]

In October 1957 Metzger was ordained as a 'bishop' by Fritsche, with
Anita Borgert as a witness.

Seven weeks before his death on the Spring Equinox of 1960, Fritsche
passed his position as 'Patriarch' of the EGC on to Metzger. Fritsche
died on June 20th 1960 at the Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Haar in
Munich — coincidentally, this was the same day as Metzger's birthday.
From now on it was said that the "Patriarchate of EGC — this dignity
he [Metzger] derived from Chevillon, murdered by the Gestapo in 1944,
who was himself the successor of Joanny Bricaud." [38] Now on
Metzger's headed stationery, one might find a green symbol of the Equinox, with
underneath it the phrase "Priorat Helvetia", and next to that
"Gnostisch Katholische Kirche", and underneath that "Église Catholique
Gnostique Universelle" as well.

On the question of the succession Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack said of
Metzger: "His forerunner in church offices [Fritsche] ended his life in a
Bavarian psychiatric hospital. This was hardly the time or the place to ordain a
bishop. Although the present-day Master of this Order has frequently
written and spoken of his titles — and has himself performed
ordinations — however he has never (to the best of my knowledge)
produced any ordination documents." [39]

"The EGC demonstrates the unity of all rituals [...] it is
called Catholic [...] because it is all-inclusive," [40] "it is
an Ecclesia Sancta Catholica," [41] and "it is the original Minerval Church
of the Ordo Illuminatorum," [42] since "the final ranks [of
the Psychosophical
Society] correspond to the priesthood of the EGC. They are the
Illuminati." [43]

Metzger wasn't the first person to try and join various Orders and
churches up. The former O.T.O. member under Theodor Reuss's ægis, P.
Ch. Martens [44] stated: "The motto is 'Through the Cross to the Crown'.
The symbol is the brazen serpent crucified in the desert." [45]
When the first convocation of EGC priests took place in 1902, the hierarchy
looked like this: "Candidate, Minerval, Magus, Grand Master, Priest,
Sovereign (Reuss), Custodian (Engel), Areopagus." [46] Obviously
Martens mistook the Order of Illuminati with
everything else under Reuss.

"To regain the stolen and misused reproductive power, and to restore
it to its proper place, is the work of the Great Mother of the
World-Soul." [47]
"Do not embrace a naked Marianne or Melusine; she is Nuit herself." [48]
"The solution exists in removing one's seed from its terrestrial
destiny, and returning it to its original source." [49]
"The ends of all the nerves are in the reproductive organs, provided
by nature for greater sensitivity, generated by the completion of the
sanctified process of union — the orgasm." [50]

Metzger left Eugen Grosche in the dark about
his conception of the "greatest secret" of the O.T.O., in a letter of October 23rd
1950: "I will neither confirm nor deny anything."Karl Germer himself knew no
details about Metzger's position on the O.T.O. degrees involving sex-magic:
"What I would like to know is to what extent he possesses the secret
literature of the VII°, VIII° & IX°, and knowledge. So far he has been
cautious and careful not to say too much." [51]

Adolf Hemberger made the following revelation after
the appearance of Horst
Knaut's scandalmongering reports: "Fr. Paragranus emphatically
seperates himself and his OTO from any exoterically practised
sex-magic." [52] The "Gnostic Mass" of Walter
Englert's apostate" O.T.O.-IO"was orientated towards the Cult of Isis." [53]

OUTSIDE

On Krumm-Heller's further lines of Gnostic succession, the Chapter on
the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua
should be consulted. However Roberto de la Caridad Toca y Medina should
be mentioned at this point, with reference to his succession via one
Johannes Müller Rider. Gabriel Sanchez Gavíria spoke additionally of a
certain Señor Carlos V. Gonzales from Argentina in this connection,
besides somebody named "Isidoro". [54]

On July 2nd 1977 an Italian from Florence called Loris Carlesi "Tau
Johannes" of the Chiesa Gnostica Italiana was entered "in the list
of Brothers" for Metzger's Ordo Illuminatorum; Carlesi's line of
succession was enumerated thus — Bricaud, Blanchard, Ménard, Ambelain,
Brunelli. [55] Metzger never returned the Italian rituals that "Caro
Fratello Johannes" had lent him, even though a "collaboration"
would have been "auspicious". [56] Meanwhile, a member of Metzger's
assemblage of orders called Ian Semmel, originally from Germany, lived
in Madrid.

Lucien-François Jean-Maine

Since no documentary evidence is available, I only can outline the
alleged history as given in several sources (e.g. listed at the
end of this article.

Born in Haiti on January 11th 1869, Jean-Maine was ordained in Paris on
August 15th 1899 by Paul-Pierre de Marraga (of the 'Ecclesia
Cabalistica-Gnostica de Memphis-Misraim') and Manuel Lopez de Brion.
[57] He was then ordained by Joanny Bricaud (or possibly 'Papus'?) in
1907 or 1908, and re-ordained by either Bricaud or 'Papus' on November
1st 1918 (or 1919). [58]
However, in none of the old French EGC/EGU- or O.T.O.-magazines is his
name mentioned. [Facsimile of those magazines in "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica"]

The successions preceding Marraga and Brion cannot
be elaborated further here on grounds of space, although their line was
supposed to descend from a certain "Tau Thesée I" of the 'Église
Hieroglyphique des Imagiers' of 1710. [59]

Hector-François Jean-Maine

Hector-François was born in Haiti on November 18th 1924, and was
ordained on January 27th 1949 by Robert Ambelain; he was ordained again
on January 25th 1953, this time by his father Lucien-François, Henri
Dupont, and Ambelain. Ambelain ordained him yet again on November 11th
1959; as if this wasn't enough, he was ordained into the Église
Gnostique Universelle as well, by Miguel Sanchez-Marraga, José Marraga
y Adhemar and Carlos Adhemar, on November 2nd 1963 — on the same day
that Jose Ortier Sanchez y Marr aga ordained him into the
Neo-Pythagorean Gnostic Church. Hector-François Jean-Maine received ordinations from
Michael Paul Bertiaux on November 2nd 1968, and from Marc-Antoine Lully
(though this time he ordained Lully in return).

Michael Paul Bertiaux

Bertiaux was born on January 18th 1931 (at three minutes to nine in the
evening) in Seattle into a family of Theosophists. While his father
(described as being of Anglo-Norman and French stock) was interested in
Zen Buddhism, his mother (Canadian by birth) was a Spiritualist.
Bertiaux studied philosophy and history at the Jesuit University in
Seattle, received instruction in philosophy at Tulane University in New
Orleans, and learnt about theology at the Anglican Theological Centre
in Vancouver. [60]

Bertiaux was christened and confirmed as a Roman Catholic, but was
ordained into the priesthood of the protestant Episcopalian Church on
June 24th 1963. On August 15th that year Hector-François Jean-Maine
appointed him as a bishop at the 'Arc-en-ciel' Lodge, at Petionville in
Haiti. [61] At this time Bertiaux was working at Port-au-Prince as a
philosophy teacher for the Church of England. [62] In Seattle he
became an Anglican Church Commissioner, even though he was maintaining
contacts with Voodoo priests in Haiti. Not surprisingly, he departed
the Anglican fold in 1964, and moved to Wheaton, Illinois, to work for
the Theosophical Society. The TS's president in America at this time
was Dr. Henry Smith; both he and his wife Joanna were interested in
magic and Spiritualism — Joanna was a medium. [63] Haitian immigrants
began to gather round Bertiaux, and he soon devoted most of his
attention to them. During the 1980's was staying in Japan, and devoted
himself to the Shinto religion.

Below are enumerated the various lines of succession that Bertiaux
received:
Basilides Line: 25.1.1966 from H. F. Jean-Maine und Jose Marraga y
Adhemar. 10.8.1967 from Roland Merritt
Shreves. 25.12.1967 from Marc-Antoine Lully. 31.8.1968 from Pierre Antoine Saint-Charles.
Valentinus Line: 29.6.1973 from Jean-Maine, Adhemar and Jose Sanchez y
Marraga. 16.6.1979 from Forest Ernest Barber (Liberal Catholic Church
and Mariavite Order). 14.11.1985 from Jorge Rodriguez (besides Bricaud,
Blanchard, Menard, Ambelain, Mauer, Pommery, Vital-Herne, Roger
Victor-Herard (according to the obituary of 16.8.89 for the "Primate of
the Gnostic Catholic Church"), as well as the succession descending via
Krumm-Heller, Rider, and Toca). Together with these, Bertiaux
mentioned also a "Russian Orthodox from the Patriarchate of
Moscow (Patriarch Tikhon to Bishop Ofiosh in 1917)". [65]

Gnostic Churches that are offshoots of Bertiaux's activities appear in
Spain: Lamparter's
Ecclesia Gnostica Latina with a succession from
the line of S.A. Höller, Barber, and Rosa Miller. Lamparter's version
of the "Gnostic Mass" was held on each "third day of the feminine
menstruation", it was a performance, wherein wine
(blood) and bread (semen) became magically transubstantiated. [66]

In Italy activities were expanded under the guidance of Nevio Viola
(in co-operation with Roberto Negrini in the Ecclesia Gnostica
Catholica Latina), or else under Paolo Fogagnolo, who had
split away from his Order brethren in an attempt to build up his own
international organisation; it was intended as a collaboration between
all French Gnostics and O.T.O. enthusiasts. (Details on the Italian
scene can be found
here).

In Yugoslavia the 'Ecclesia
Gnostica Alba' was led by Zivorad Mihajlovic Slavinski "Tau Orfeo Aivaz I"; he had been ordained by
Bertiaux in 1977, and was appointed as X° for Yugoslavia on June 22nd
1990, by the 'Typhonian' O.T.O.'s Kenneth Grant
and Michael Staley.

Stranded O.T.O. Bishops

In the 'Caliphate's' church newsletter "Gnostic Gnews" Vol. 1 Nº
3, (California 1989, 4) readers would have seen in 1989 the two suppositious lines of
apostolic succession claimed by the 'Caliphate': [67]

(Facsimile of a pertinent letter signed by Breeze can be found in "Ecclesia Gnostica
Catholica")
In conformity with its newly-favoured Christian image, the 'Caliphate' inaugurated new offices
of Bishop, Priest, and Deacon.

As to point (a), although McMurtry's consecration is supposed to
have
arrived through the post with the 'Caliphate Letters' from Crowley,
there is no mention of this in any of these letters. Martin Starr said:
"I consider this 'apostolic succession' argument to be utterly absurd,
and have nothing whatsoever to do with the O.T.O. of Crowley, which is
founded on Thelema, not the Roman Catholic Church [...] Crowley
was not a Bishop of the Gnostic Catholic Church [...] Crowley
never "consecrated" McMurtry ANYTHING!" [68] And: "All
pre-existing Masonic orders were considered to be subsumed in the OTO, and so he had no need
for them [...] For Crowley, Gnostic = Thelemic." [69]
There is as little mention of anything about churches or ordination in
Reuss's 1912 Charter for Crowley, as in the so-called 'Caliphate
Letters'. There is still no proof that 'Papus' ordained Crowley, beyond
a solitary reference to the O.T.O. in Berlin and London in 'Papus's'
magazine "Mysteria" during 1913; although Reuss was living in London at
this time. Moreover, Jean-Maine's name does not appear in any of the
French Gnostic or O.T.O. publications.

As to point (b), William Wallace Webb
"Damon" consecrated Lully by letter in 1967; Lully then introduced Bertiaux
into this succession. The highly complex links between Ronald Powell
(who also called himself 'Richard Duc de Palatine'), Herman Adrian
Spruit, Paul Wadle, Stephan A. Höller and Forest Ernest Barber have had
to be omitted on grounds of space.
Jack B. Hogg Jr. was ordained on June 2nd 1968 by Bertiaux, assisted
by Lully. He was consecrated again on July 24th 1970 by Bertiaux,
Frank Lopez O'Brien and Antonio Paez. On August 15th 1973 Bertiaux'
OTOA officially
accepted the Law of Thelema. On August 12th 1974 Hogg
ordained William Breeze -
today the 'Caliph'. Again, on July 27th 1980, Hogg was
ordained by Bertiaux and Jean-Maine. Breeze himself makes no appearance
in the OTOA journals produced at this time ("The Mirror of Misraim",
after 1974 "Labyrinthos", and then "Instrumentum").
W.W. Webb stated: "I did give Bertiaux and Lully confirmation to
Bishop, by letter, so they would be Legal in the state of Illinois, to
satisfy them at that time [...] 1966 or 67." [70] "Wadle
never made me a Bishop", [71] merely into a Deacon of the
"American Catholic Church." [72]

Breeze's response when charged being 'pre-ordained' through the post
was "I don't particularly care", [73] though he subsequently
revised
all his church publications and the ceremony for ordaining bishops to
cover his further progress. In the meantime people were reassured with
the following claim:
"Elevation to the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis [IX° O.T.O.]
"ipso facto" makes one a Bishop, and leadership of such a body "ipso facto"
makes one a Patriarch." [74]

Armchair O.T.O. Bishops and Kitchen-Sink E.G.C. Priests

"The Gnostic Catholic Mass (Liber XV) is the central ritual, public and
private, of the OTO (9.05.A)." [75] "The GCC is [...] the
Religious aspect of OTO." [76]

Regarding Crowley's antidemocratic, racist and misanthropic writings, followers point out: "The reason [...] aspects of Thelema are omitted [in public discussion] indicates the actual problem with presenting Thelema as a religion and attempting to get Thelema sanctioned by the government or approved by the public: Thelema is ultimately in contrast to and transgressive of normative society. Thelema rejects the morals and values of normative society and acts to transgress and violate these norms. From the inclusion of intoxicants in ritual, to the positive view of sexuality, which frequently is seen as promoting promiscuity, to the pro–authoritarian and Nietzschian aspects of Thelema, normative society has much to reject in Thelema and conversely, Thelema encourages its adherents to reject most aspects of normative society.". See The Templar's Reich.

The 'Caliphate's' view of the relationship between the O.T.O. and the
GCC (EGC) was as follows: "While the OHO is certainly also the Patriarch of
the EGC, one does not have to be a member of the O.T.O. to become a priest
or bishop in the EGC. On the other hand, a member of the III° is
simultaneously a fully ordained priest in the EGC". [77]
Breeze: "Note that the other groups that appear in the Oriflamme
FRA and EGC, are also component groups of O.T.O." [78]
"So far as the GCC is concerned, each national Church is
independent; if he wishes, the Chief can call himself a Patriarch, but the OHO is
the 'Pope'." [79]
"The Constitution of the E.G.C. makes the Caliph Patriarch of the
E.G.C., which is technically illegal in the United States." [80]
Although the basis for this statement was the legal incorporation of
the EGC on October 12th 1979 at Berkeley in California, why hadn't
Breeze registered the 'Caliphate' H.Q. in New York as the O.T.O. (at
the time when he was living there)?
"The Father (or Mother) of the Church has the authority to modify the
Gnostic Catholic Mass to suit special functions and occasions, to set
recommended guidelines for its proper performance, and to issue
recommendations for the preparation of the sacraments (9.05.B)."
[81]

Although the 'Caliphate' accepted Metzger as X° (as in the "OTO
Newsletter" Nº 3 of December 1977), and although no member of the
'Caliphate' had seen a performance
of Metzger's interpretation of the "Gnostic Mass": "The Swiss lodge
adaptation of the Gnostic Mass is generally held to be too Christian
and too tame by the most OTO members." [82]

It was around this time that the 'Caliphate' issued instructions to
its members to do with preparing 'Cakes of Light' (the Crowleyan name
for the Hosts used in the "Gnostic Mass"). If the ingredients included
semen, vaginal secretions, and/or blood, they were to be baked at a
temperature of at least 160° Fahrenheit, to remove all traces of HIV.
[83] (Perhaps this was an error for 160° Centigrade, since 160°
Fahrenheit would not bake anything; that would make the correct
temperature 325°F, or Gas Mark 3).

"Bishops from affiliated or distant branches of the Gnostic Catholic
Church with or without an historical connection with the OTO may
affiliate with the OTO upon mutual recognition (9.04.B)." [84]
This happened, for example with Lamparter, former OHO of the OTOA:
"We [...] will register your ordination [...] This
confers ecclesiastical membership in O.T.O." [85]

After that the 'Caliphate' swarmed with 'Priests' and 'Bishops'.
Norbert Straet recalled, for instance: "I was ordained by Bill
Breeze and Lon Milo de Quette ('Archbishop' of the E.G.C.) as a bishop".
[86] 'His Grace' de Quette was supposedly shot at during the course
of a performance of a Crowleyan Mass on November 15th 1987, [87] which
however was a 'Caliphate' joke, since in 1991 de
Quette undertook bishop-consecrations in Europe.

Reference is made to the EGC on page 16 of the Laws of the
incorporated 'Caliphate' in Aachen. The Church's Patriarch was
placed on an equal footing with the OHO, and even talked of "valid
and documented apostolic and episcopal succession." [88]

The Great Gnostic Catholic Church Scandal

Then displeasure became audible within the 'Caliphate':
"Ideally there should be no need in this Æon for a Priestcraft that
ministers to some superstitious people and locks them down with some
dogmatic tradition of authority [...] stuff coming out
concerning the role of Bishops and the EGC — all these rules and regulations for what
a Bishop does and doesn't do [...] I wonder if all the officers
in the Mass are really capable of handling the Mass." [89]

The embarrassing question as to whether "some are holier than
others by virtue of being touched by the right hands," engendered "no
interest in the sort of Vatican politics [...] the pompous, pious and
repressive power-over-you attitudes I encounter from officers of the EGC."
[90] Elaine Pagels' "The Gnostic Gospels" [91] which was published at this
time, cast a good deal of new light on the original functions of a
Gnostic bishop for the 'Caliphate'.

The use of purely Christian terms like "Bishop", "Catholic", "Holy
Father", and the apparent obsession with traditional apostolic
succession apparently left many 'Caliphate' members nonplussed. Some
began to ask questions; what would Crowley have thought about such
carryings-on? The 'Caliphate's' new "By-Laws" adhered neither to
Reuss's spirit nor Crowley's, and offered but a pale imitation of
Reuss's presentation of the O.T.O. as a "neo-Christian society."

As a result of all these discontented rumblings, Breeze abruptly
realised that there was "no evidence in Crowley's or Reuss'
papers" to "support the usage 'Bishop' in OTO." [92] This Gnostic
"volte-face" stayed on the back-burner for at least a year, until on October 1st
1991 it was announced that the "Holy Ghost" played a part in the
ordination of bishops, and that therefore it now regulated the
'Caliphate', and was introduced as part of the VII°. Whether this new
perception resolved the urgent question of 'authentic ordination'
within the 'Caliphate' remains unanswered; Phyllis Seckler still
equated the 'Caliphate's' Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica with the
'Universal Gnostic Church', [93] which only served to provoke further
interminable arguments. Put on the alert as a result, Mrs. Seckler
tried to prevent her name appearing in this study with threats of legal
action. [94]

The whole story of why the 'apostolic succession', by laying on the
hands, was banned in 'Caliphate' has not been told. David Scriven in an
article in 'Red Flame, A Thelemic Research Journal No.2' was jabbing at what the Order
'now' calls Auxiliary Bishops. It's referring to the antics at Thelema
Lodge which used to be very, very anti-William Breeze in the
mid-to-late-eighties. Many of the members hated their Patriarch. It was
no secret they resented someone from the East Coast (New York) taking
over the Order after McMurtry's death. They thought William Heidrick
(or someone else from California) should have assumed the position and
this attitude was fueled by Heidrick's behind the scene activities to
that effect. Thelema Lodge, although it has a figure-head type of Lodge
Master, has always been Heidrick's Lodge and in many ways, still is. In
the "old days" a Bishop was made by 'the laying on of hands.' Each
Bishop, although in the Gnostic Church, was autonomous or self-ruling
believing strongly in the Creed of the Wandering Bishops. This came
back to haunt Breeze who made a lower degree member named David Jones,
then Lodge Master of Thelema Lodge, a Bishop. Jones later turned on
him. He started making 'everyone' a Bishop by the laying on his hands -
for a price. Sadly, many 'bought' their Bishophood for $3.33 and it's
no secret Mr Jones and others were simply trying to defy the then newly
appointed Frater Hymenaeus Beta (= Breeze), which should say it all.
The 'Caliphate' had to put a stop on making Bishops in this fashion and
said officially it was no longer recognizing such Bishops. They feared,
if a hostile Thelema Lodge was making Bishops like water, it would only
be a matter of time before they would be the controlling number of
Bishops within the Gnostic Church and not Breeze. The question then
arose, "What to do with all these renegade Bishops?" Thus the Order
created the term Auxiliary Bishop. This is a term hated by those
individuals in the Bay Area who hold the title because it implies that
they are not FULL O.T.O. Bishops, a fact they constantly try to hide.
To be a FULL Bishop within the 'Caliphate' (now) you must be a
VIIth. The majority of the Auxiliary Bishops were below Fourth Degree and few of them have ever risen up to become
full Bishops. [read David Jones' reaction to this
paragraph]

As the Vilatte-'apostolic succession'line
that Breeze claimed until 1990 had turned out to be bogus, in 1993,
David Scriven was seeking consecration as a
Bishop under Bishop Robert Cokinis and Bishop John Cole (both EGA).

The EGA USA is in concordat with Bishop Stephan Hoeller of California,
even though his lineage is through Duc de Palatine. Scriven's request
was turned over to Hoeller, and nothing ever came of this. Before they
would ever consecrate anyone, the issue of Intent would have to be
clearly established to be in conjunction with their purpose. Dioceses
are in the midwestern bible belt, and great care must be taken to ensure
that the EGA is not mislabeled as a thelemic church. Scriven
nevertheless seeked consecration into the EGA and in 1996 found so
through Jorge Rodriguez. Rodriguez was consecrated an EGA bishop by
Roger St.-Victor Herard. Rodriguez later left the EGA to found his own
church, Eglise Catholica Apostolica Orthodoxa. He caused quite a lot of
problems for the EGA and the fact that he left was welcomed.
The consecration by Rodriguez is not considered valid by any EGA bishops.
Rodriguez has been working outside the guise of the E.G.A., so
the E.G.A feels that he doesn't have the right to be making
Gnostic Bishops even though he shares the same succession that they
share. To quote a passage from Bishop Hoeller "We ordain clergy
for our own jurisdiction and not for "independent" activities on their
own. The Ecclesia has no interest in expansion for its own sake, rather
it prefers to have a few parishes led by properly trained priests of
true Gnostic commitment."
The EGA has very stringent regulations for consecration (e.g. above
mentioned issue of Intent). Also, the bull of election is most
important. For a valid consecration, there must be a bull of election
signed by at least three of EGA Bishops. Rodriguez did not even
initiate a bull of election for Scriven at all. — No wonder that only
Jack B. Hogg Jr. and Jorge Rodriguez are named as "Bishops in Amity" in
the official list of the active 'Caliphate'-Gnostic Church members.

Study a version of Stephan
Hoeller's Mass that was modified by the
EGA's late Primate, Roger St. Victor Herard (Tau Charles). Up to that
point, The E.G.A had used a French mass only, and the English mass was
basically the Roman mass with a few slight alterations.

AND

Motta's EGC was led in Canada by a certain "Dominus Harlechinus", of
whom however nothing further is knowm. [95]

W.B. Crow — OHO of the O.T.O.

William Bernard Crow (b. 11.9.1895) was a biology teacher, and had been
a bishop in the Theosophically-inspired Liberal Catholic Church until
1935, when in August 1944 he was appointed as "Sovereign Patriarch
of the Gnostic Catholic Church and Vicar of Salomon with full right,
power" etc. etc., in a letter from Aleister Crowley. This settled
the question of who headed the church, and would thus celebrate the
Crowleyan version of the "Gnostic Mass". In an exchange of letters
between Crow and Crowley, it was agreed that in this particular case,
an apostolic succession was not required. Crow himself ran something
called 'The Temple of Holy Wisdom'. "The psychopath [Crow]
having already named himself Bishop of St. Sophia and Grand Master of the
Order of Holy Wisdom, demanded that all bishops on the thrones of
Antioch submit to him within six months." [96]

In fact Crow did only ordaine twice after August 1944: on September
3rd that year, Henry George Brook who exchanged on May 20th 1945
consecrations with H.C. Bartlett, F.E. Langhelt, H.G. de Wilmott
Newmann and John Syer all together. On August 16th 1948 Crow graciously permitted
his followers to appoint him as Grand Heirophant of Memphis-Misraim. His
'Ancient and Universal Rite of Cosmic Architecture' now consisted of
the 33°, 90°, 97°, and the XII° O.T.O.; Crow publicly referred to the
12-degree OTO system as expanded by Crowley, which has already been
mentioned several times in the present work. The XII° was
identical with the office of OHO... exactly as William Breeze copied it
today.

On April 4th 1972 Crow ordained one Kermit William Poling "Mar Titus",
who was already Patriarch of the 'Orthodox Catholic Church of America'.
It is remarkable that there is not one O.T.O. in the entire world which
seems to possess the 'Gnostic' Crowleyan line of succession by itself.

Crow departed this life on June 26th 1976. Gregory Tillett stated that
"I became Deputy Grand Master of the Order [of the Holy Wisdom]
in 1979." [97]

The E.G.C. and the Fraternitas Saturni

Bricaud and Chevillon had early given their gnostic churches a
Christian basis, however heretical it might seem. To Reuss and
Metzger's way of thinking, the O.T.O. was an association of "gnostic
neo-Christians". But Grosche thought that "The real Gnosis had
nothing to do with Christian teachings [...] a Christian-oriented Gnosis
is today just as objectionable as a religious Spiritualism." [98]
"You can't be a Templar Christian or a Catholic Gnostic! They are both the
worst sort of mysticism." [99] Thus Grosche separated himself
from 'Amenophis's' statement (a high degree FS member) that the
Gnostica Ecclesia Catholica was an
"ecclesiola in ecclesia", a little church within the Church. [100]
This was a pious thought already expressed by E.T. Kurtzahn in 1925
[101], and then by Metzger in 1963. [102]

"There is no doubt that Grosche/Gregor A. Gregorius had no proper
theological training; he followed an already outdated form of extreme
theological rationalism derived from Rénan. The 20th century liturgical
movement that sought to blend the knowledge of the Mystery Religions
with ecclesiastical forms — as in Theosophy and the Liberal Catholic
Church, Anthroposophy and the 'Christengemeinschaft', or in Roman
Catholicism with the Benedictine Odo Casel and his 'Theology of the
Mysteries' — all this passed straight over Grosche's head." [103]

Dieter Heikaus, the Mariavite Bishop of the Gnostic Catholic Church in
Germany (which apparently only had an existence in the OS circulars)
and Grand Master of the Ordo Saturni, used these circulars to found a
'Secular Saturn Monastery', at the Spring Lodge meeting in 1990. [104]
Grosche had already talked about this
Monastery, built "according to
Saturnian" laws, in his "Blätter für angewandte okkulte
Lebenskunst" (Nº 44 of September 1953); before the Second World War certain FS
brothers from Brüx in Austria, and the Obersalzberg (where Hitler had
his retreat), had placed building-site at his disposal.

Metzger's O.T.O. and Christendom

"The Roman Church is just one Order among many." [105] "The
greatest treasure that mankind has ever gained is Christ's teaching." [106]
"Christmas Eve brings Light [...] through Night to
light!" [107]

One of Metzger's innumerable titles read thus: "+ H. Josephus M.,
Patriarch of the Holy Gnostic-Catholic Church 'Ecclesiola in
Ecclesia'." In his "Oriflamme" Nº 28 of June 1963, after the
death of Pope John the 23rd Metzger tearfully recorded: "we are
touched." When Pope Paul the 6th was enthroned, Metzger sent a congratulatory telegram
to the Vatican; the Swiss Ambassador to the Vatican was informed.
[108]

"Metzger wished his EGC to be known as an ecumenical movement."
[109]
However, he did not express this wish to the established churches, and
the Evangelical-Lutheran Bishop of Bavaria wrote to him in dismissive
terms: "The centuries-old tradition that you claim for your group
bears no relationship to fact. Hence your group has nothing to do even with
other groups of similar names. Your activities are not
supra-confessional. Nothing is known of your claims about your
'ecumenical collaboration' with other churches, and there is no church
in the Ecumen that maintains any sort of contact with you." [110]
The office of the See of St. Gallen added: "that on our part we have
never expressed any opinion to do with the Psychosophical Society."
[111]

In reality, what Metzger meant by 'ecumenical' was almost entirely
predicated on his association with one Erich-Viktor Beyer "Father
'Adalbert Maria'", who had been born on September 4th 1911 in Danzig.
Authorities recorded that he lived in Germany, at
Böhringen near Radolfzell, and that he had spent many years as a
"wandering Russian Orthodox monk", gaining admission to Catholic
monasteries, convents, and other institutions, where he celabrated High
Masses in Latin — and had got hold of the fees for these Masses.
[112]

"Metzger called him a 'one-man monastery'." [113] Beyer died
as a result of a heart-attack, and was buried at the Ostfriedhof in St.
Gallen on December 19th 1967; a large delegation from the Stein Abbey
of Thelema participated at the event, resplenently clad in their Order
robes, led by 'Episcopus' Metzger. [114]

In Beyer, Metzger saw an "uncompromising ecumenical [...]
this wandering charismatic bore his burden with stoical equanimity from the
North Sea to the Mediterranean, and from east to west." [115]

"One time that he was with us [Paul R. Audehm and Walter
Englert] in Frankfurt,
he said in deadly earnest about M[etzger] — who was sitting at
the same table — 'He is a devil'. They were both on the way to Wiesbaden, and
both of them had a sword in their baggage [...] There must have
been a secret Templar convent in Wiesbaden, but not the OMT, where we'd heard
of the former General of the Order [Heuser] [...] In 1968 at
Englert's house, many Catholic Sisters from Frankfurt came to see Beyer
[...] This 'Father Strangelove' was buried according to the
'Gnostic Catholic Rite' in the presence of everyone from Stein, so I
heard." [116]

Because Metzger's telegram to the Pope "had been noticed, in 1963 I
began a colllaboration with Prof. Dr. P. Gebhard Frei [117] (d.
27.10.76) for research and to collect information." It was
detected how many Hosts Metzger used in his Masses: "1963-1967
= a total of 3,000 Hosts," [118] "obtained by the Thelemites
from a genuine Catholic convent. The incense-grains had already been
opportunely supplied by the Chief Sacristan of St. Gallen Cathedral.
And the wine for the Mass, says Hermann Josef Metzger, came directly
from the Bishop." [119]

"GNOSTIC-CATHOLIC CHURCH, Zurich, Nº 64610. Church Wedding: The church
wedding of the bride and groom [Walter and Uta Englert] [...]
was
performed on the 31st of May 1964 in the Rosy+Cross Church of Zurich by
His Eminence Bishop Josephus." [120] The Chief of Police for
Zurich Canton believes that this marriage was worthless in civil terms;
however Metzger didn't actually break any laws. [121]

When Fritz Blanke's book "Kirchen und Sekten" ("Churches and Sects")
appeared in 1963, with its statement that "the Psychosophical
Society has allowed the ritual of a blaspheming Mass to be printed" (p. 91)
they raged in Stein against this "Ukase from a professorial
priest."
[122] Blanke died in 1966, and in 1976 the Psychosophical Society
opined that "Professor Blanke had [...] given us friendly
advice up until his death." [123]
The Professor's son could not supply any further details: "I know
of no other statements of my father's" book (Letter
of 18.11.86). Oswald Eggenberger was then requested not to mention the
O.T.O. and EGC in the next edition of his guide "Kirchen, Sondergruppen
und religiöse Vereinigungen" ("Churches, Independent Groups, and
Religious Societies)" because "it is only a question of a tiny
membership." [124]

After announcements about the EGC appeared in the "Kirchenbote der
Stadt Zürich" ("Zurich City Church Courier"), one reader wrote in
enquiring about it. The paper's reply describing the O.T.O., saw it as
being "a remarkable muddle" and a "supermarket of religions", while its
references to primitive Christianity were "pure folly".
("Kirchenbote der Stadt Zürich", December 1964).

On Horst Knaut's
appointment by F.-W. Haack, the "Oriflamme" (Nº 132 of 1973)
complained to the Bishop of the established Evangelical church".
Haack had this to say: "The established Church generally
did not respond to this matter, because that kind of initiative was not
taken too seriously." (Letter of 15.9.86).

On dealing with those who resigned from a church, from the Christian
perspective: "Resigning from a church is never required,
notwithstanding someone's devoting themself to particular groups by
themself (here the Psychosophial Society is meant, which considers
itself as the successor to the Rosicrucians)." [125]

"Provided the people from the Abbey of Thelema [...] made no
claims being a proto Christian Society with a religious tradition, then one could
afford to ignore them." [126]

Haack demanded that both Metzger and Aeschbach should apologise
to Eggenberger &c., on 4.11.72. Haack himself felt that he'd been
treated less than well by Fräulein Aeschbach; letter to Metzger of
27.5.74.

Spermophagy

Regarding Aleister Crowley's antidemocratic, racist and misanthropic writings, followers point out: "The reason [...] aspects of Thelema are omitted [in public discussion] indicates the actual problem with presenting Thelema as a religion and attempting to get Thelema sanctioned by the government or approved by the public: Thelema is ultimately in contrast to and transgressive of normative society. Thelema rejects the morals and values of normative society and acts to transgress and violate these norms. From the inclusion of intoxicants in ritual, to the positive view of sexuality, which frequently is seen as promoting promiscuity, to the pro–authoritarian and Nietzschian aspects of Thelema, normative society has much to reject in Thelema and conversely, Thelema encourages its adherents to reject most aspects of normative society.". "Journal of Thelemic Studies", 1;2, 2008, page 40. See The Templar's Reich.